Professional Photos on Board

[TV Dad]

HAL offers several "Candid Photo Packages" and "Portrait Packages" for pre-purchase. Has anyone purchased these before? Do they offer a signifigant savings?

 

How are the "candid" photos taken?

 

How much do photos cost on board without the package?

 

Thanks, in advance for your help.

[rangeley]

I don't know about the pre cruise packages, but the photos are expensive. I think they were 40.00 for one sheet which includes a big photo and some smaller ones.

[bcd2010]

Yes, $40/sheet of one 8x10, one 5x7 and two 2x3 - buy 3 sheets get one free - same pose on each sheet. That was for formal portraits, don't know about candids. There were some 8x10 single prints for $20 - these may have been candids, not sure.

[spcl4cs_gal]

And then there are those black and white portraits that start at $500 I think. They are very nice but way out of my budget.

[VermeulT]

We splurged big time on our last cruise... I did the buy 3 get one free of the big sheets as well as the black & white session (our package was $399 or so).

 

The black and whites are amazing and some of the best pix I've ever had taken. The sheets were average format pix - but great for sharing (gifts for Mom & MIL, etc).

 

I also bought the digital scrapbook - It was a fair price - especially considering I got stock photos of the ship & the places we visited, and digital copies of our sheet pictures.

 

The candids I believe were 8 x 10 or 5 x 7 (not 100% sure) and were either table pictures, or ones when you get on/ off the ship.

[k-town girl]

HAL offers several "Candid Photo Packages" and "Portrait Packages" for pre-purchase. Has anyone purchased these before? Do they offer a signifigant savings?

 

How are the "candid" photos taken?

 

How much do photos cost on board without the package?

 

Thanks, in advance for your help.

 

Don't think I would pre order a pkg. Have found that sometimes there are none of the pictures that I realy like well enough to buy, only on a couple of occasions did I indulge. I would not consider them cheap.

[janmcn]

Definitely wouldn't preorder any photo package...the quality depends on the photographer and they sure vary from one to another on board. We wanted photos taken this last cruise so on formal night we went around and had the various photographers take photos...some were good, others downright poor. None compare with "on shore" photographers.

On the previous cruise we bought no photos...none were very good. Poor lighting, etc.

[amunhbuu]

Don't be fooled by the "pro" on cruises' pro photographers. They are just people who have been shown how to use a camera. On our last cruise, even in a controlled environment with adequate lighting most of our pictures were out of focus.

 

It is really hit and miss on whether you get some good images or not, IMHO. It is not just cruises, Disney suffers from the same issues.

[Gaucho39]

They have portrait sittings that are done in black and white. There's no charge for the sitting. This is usually done by one of the "think outside the box" photographers. If you like any of the pics I think they start out at $200.

 

These are very well done,and a good one can't compare to the standard cruise ship pics.

 

We didn't buy any when we had it done. I'm still kicking myself for not doing so. My wife just spent $200 for a set of graduation pictures that look like they were taken in a booth at Walmart. :eek:

[LindaKE]

Yes, $40/sheet of one 8x10, one 5x7 and two 2x3 - buy 3 sheets get one free - same pose on each sheet. That was for formal portraits, don't know about candids. There were some 8x10 single prints for $20 - these may have been candids, not sure.

 

Can you choose to buy just one sheet? We've always done this on other cruise lines. I think we usually paid $20 for a single sheet. Sometimes we like a photo but only want one, not a whole package of the same shot.

[IrishLassie]

The photos have always been my "big complaint". I think they charge way to much. I would buy more if they would lower the prices on the single sheets. My father was a professional photographer & I know how much it cost to print pictures! I realize they have to pay the photographers etc., but I still think people would buy more, if they were at a "reasonable price", $20. for 1 8x20 is WAY OUT OF LINE. :( Just my thoughts & I always write on the comment cards at the end of our cruises about this.

[willowoodf]

The photos have always been my "big complaint". I think they charge way to much. I would buy more if they would lower the prices on the single sheets. My father was a professional photographer & I know how much it cost to print pictures! I realize they have to pay the photographers etc., but I still think people would buy more, if they were at a "reasonable price", $20. for 1 8x20 is WAY OUT OF LINE. :( Just my thoughts & I always write on the comment cards at the end of our cruises about this.

 

I agree! They've already gone to the time and expense of taking the picture, printing the picture, so that fixed expense doesn't change. I think their income would go WAY up if the photos were more reasonable! We rarely buy photos because of the cost. The only ones we are interested in anymore is ones with the captain. So we might buy one photo. If the photos were more reasonable, we would probably buy some of the goofy port pictures, or table pictures to remember our tablemates. So we would definitely spend more money buying photos. Since the fixed cost of taking and printing the pictures remains the same, doesn't it just make economic sense to lower the prices enough so that they sell more? I just don't get it.

 

Mary

[2cruisecats]

They have portrait sittings that are done in black and white. There's no charge for the sitting. This is usually done by one of the "think outside the box" photographers. If you like any of the pics I think they start out at $200.

 

These are very well done,and a good one can't compare to the standard cruise ship pics.

 

We didn't buy any when we had it done. I'm still kicking myself for not doing so. My wife just spent $200 for a set of graduation pictures that look like they were taken in a booth at Walmart. :eek:

 

We did take advantage of the portrait setting on our Med cruise. The session takes time as these are not the "on your way to dinner shots". Allow at least an hour. Part of that time is "getting to know you" and discussing the type of pix you want done, allowing the photographer to get a feel for his subjects. We were impressed by the young photographer who "caught us" and the resulting images were very well done.

 

It does cost more than the regular cruise shots probably comparable to a portrait photographer (not Walmart or Sears) back home. But if you are looking for a good portrait, give it a try. We found it was hard to select the 4 for our package. Our friends who have seen the portraits often remark on how he captured us in a relaxed and informal pose, very personal, though they are formal portraits. ... hard to describe. I am so happy we purchased the package as they are the best pictures we've ever had done.

 

Price does depend on the package you purchase and they are delivered to your home within a month of your cruise as they are printed somewhere in the US.

[tamsocal]

By Day #3 of our 12night cruise we already had numerous pictures we wanted to purchase. Most of the time in the past we just buy a handful of sheets formal & port days- this was our 1st time getting a package. The cost for the all inclusive package was $299 for us to receive any picture shot of us & the kids. We haven't had the time to take the little ones out for professional pics lately-- so the package worked well for us. Also got the PanRaven 100 page album. From what we were told formal night pics are $40 (8x10, 5x7, wallet), and embarkation, candid formal night pic in dining room, around the ship, all port day pics, etc are $20. Sometimes I have seen them allow you take 3 $40 pics and one free $20 but heard them tell others no the free had to be the $40 size and you would have to buy the $20.

 

The white background that they have out on non formal nights are also part of the $40 sheets. We did this multiple times & individual formal night pics of each boy, dad & 3 boys, 3 boys only, twins only probably on at least 4 or 5 nights

 

Once the photographers knew we had purchased the pics-- they would ask us around the ship if we wanted to take a picture- loved Molly, Ze & Alrick(?sp) there was one other guy but didn't see him much-- Molly remembered the kids names & they were all great & friendly with the kids. Have read some negative reviews about the photo gallery-- but not the case for us-- we found them to be excellent.

 

Didn't opt for the Black & white photo session--

[TV Dad]

Guys --

I appreciate the advice, but I'm still not clear on what a "candid shot" is? Obviously not the portraits on the way to dinner. I'm guessing those "Welcome to Port XYZ" in front of a life ring are not candid either. They seem pretty posed to me.

Does anyone have an idea what the "candid shots" might be?

Thanks!

[VermeulT]

Guys --

 

I appreciate the advice, but I'm still not clear on what a "candid shot" is? Obviously not the portraits on the way to dinner. I'm guessing those "Welcome to Port XYZ" in front of a life ring are not candid either. They seem pretty posed to me.

 

Does anyone have an idea what the "candid shots" might be?

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, those... they take a shot of each person/ couple at your dinner table... pictures with the Captain...

[djhsolara]

I would never pre-purchase a package prior to seeing the quality of the photos being taken on your sailing. I've seen and purchased some very good photos, but I've also seen some very bad photos. There are many of our photos that go straight to the trash bin.

 

The thing with us is that we generally know which poses we like and which poses really do not work for us. On every sailing there is a photographer that insists on doing a "back to back" pose of us...and we always say that it doesn't work for us...but as they are usually so insistent we let them do one just to make them happy...and we have yet to find a photo of one of these poses that hasn't ended up in the trash.

 

I so wish these cruiselines would go to digital video screens to view your photos. It would seem that this would be a huge cost-saving effort over printing all of the photos that are wasted on sailings...and then perhaps the cost of the photos would not need to be so high, therefore allowing them to perhaps sell more photos. :) :)

[tamsocal]

Guys --

I appreciate the advice, but I'm still not clear on what a "candid shot" is? Obviously not the portraits on the way to dinner. I'm guessing those "Welcome to Port XYZ" in front of a life ring are not candid either. They seem pretty posed to me.

Does anyone have an idea what the "candid shots" might be?

Thanks!

 

for our cruise- candids were anything but the formal night pictures(around the ship, ports, embarkation, dining room formal nights, etc). One night we didn't opt to wear formal attire since we ordered room service-- but did take the boys down to the photo session so Molly could take some birthday pictures of them-- even though they weren't in formal attire- the pics were still included in the $40 a sheet formal pics

[AZNative2000]

Guys --

 

Does anyone have an idea what the "candid shots" might be?

Thanks!

 

On our Alaska cruise, while we were in Glacier Bay, they lowered a lifeboat with photographers on board. They went around the ship taking "candid" pictures of people on their balconies. We had to buy that one of us! I also got a shot of them taking our photo.:)

[VermeulT]

On our Alaska cruise, while we were in Glacier Bay, they lowered a lifeboat with photographers on board. They went around the ship taking "candid" pictures of people on their balconies. We had to buy that one of us! I also got a shot of them taking our photo.:)

 

A photographer was on the ground at the Panama Canal locks too... but to be honest - most of the pictures I saw were hideous... people in PJ's - not looking at the camera....

[bcirish]

Anytime there is an activity onboard and also on some of the excursions - they have a photographer recording the events... ie sail away special buffet celebrations, classes etc.

That being said, I agree that the experience is very hit and miss but it also depends on your expectation. You must remember that these photographers are usually not extensively professionally trained ( have talked to many and their experiences and training are all over the place ) OTOH if you are doing a large group experience on a special cruise - this is a good way to record your experience. If you are considering it, I would make friends with all of the photographers and let them know your group which would extend your photo opportunities. Do not be afraid to ask if they can do something for you.

 

I do not know the cost of the package you are considering but when we were at Disney not long ago - they offered a photo pass for candids - every time you saw a photographer you could have them take your photo and they scanned your card and at the end they gave access to a website with all and you could do whatever you wanted with them - we did our own printing. We had 9 in our group and it was a good value - maybe this will give you some insight as to what to expect. Think that was $99.00

 

BTW - I am a professional photographer and always visit with these young photographers. For many this is their first job and they are very nice kids trying to find their place in the professional world. Watch their work and hang out with the ones who style you like - some have been excellent and have what I call the "eye" others are just okay. You can make it work for you with a bit of work on your part.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise.